Compelled
by pictureperfectmemory
Summary: When Santana Lopez is captured as a slave and bought by Brittany Pierce, her life changes. She just doesn't know if it's for better or for worse yet. Set in the 1800's era.
1. Chapter 1

**I WROTE THIS FIC A LONG TIME AGO BUT DIDN'T REALLY LIKE IT OR WANT TO CONTINUE IT. I RECENTLY FOUND IT ON MY HARDDRIVE AND DECIDED TO UPLOAD IT AGAIN. This is just so those who may have read it before don't get confused and think I've stolen/copied it.**

**I've always wanted to read a good Brittana!Slave fic but can't find any, so taking matters into my own hands, here I am with a slave fic. AU of course and set in the 1800's. I'm good at history but the last time I learnt about the slaves was when I started high school, so obviously it wasn't a lot of detail and it was years ago, so I'm sorry for any mistakes on the facts and stuff. I know there are a lot of people who don't like reading 'old fashioned' fics as they call them, but I'm gonna make it as interesting as possible. **

**Quick Summary: Santana is a captured slave and taken to America, where Brittany is on the market one day and instantly feels a connection. Brittany buys Santana and things take off from there ;) Will be mentions of Faberry and Samcedes and maybe Tike.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, however, I do own a Naya Rivera and Heather Morris cardboard cut out. **

**x-x-x-x-x-x**

**February 17th 1821 **

Santana Lopez, a twenty-two year old artist, carelessly walked through the fields of an old African village, admiring the feel of the soft grass on her feet and the gentle wind blowing through her long, dark hair.

Santana was a traveller - not the gypsy kind, the kind that appreciated the breath takingly beautiful sites the world gave to her - and every so often travelled to the most exotic places on earth - along with her very best friend in the world, Mercedes Jones, whom she met when her papi decided to do business with Mercedes' father and buy a huge sailing ship with him - her only possessions an old ship that her captain father had given her and a bag full of sketch pads and charcoal pencils.

Growing up in Spain with her incredibly rich captain of many ships father and house wife mother, Santana had a good life, never going hungry or cold and having oppurtunitys to learn her things that would make her money in later life.

She was fascinated by the landscapes and sculptures she saw when travelling to the city with her mother. She would always press herself up against the window of the horse carriage and never take her eyes of the buildings and sites the city brought to her.

Her mother would always scold her for wasting time drawing when she should be reading books in house library, spending time with her English tutor or training the horses. Santana would always politely argue back, stating that she had read every book in the library at least twice and that her English was perfect. It was. Santana was a wonderful English speaker, which impressed her tutor, Miss Emma Pillsbury greatly.

**"Santanita, how many times have I told you to focus on the homework Miss Pillsbury has given you? I don't want your ability of speaking English to drop. You know how much me and your papi want you to succeed in life." ****A young fifteen year old Santana looks up from where she was sprawled across the blanket on her balcony, sketching the mountains in the distance of the Spanish country side. **

**"Mami, you and papi both know very well that I am perfect in every aspect of the English language. Miss Pillsbury tells me that I can speak better English than the majority of people back in England. I've read many amazing books in our library. I know everything that I should know. I can stitch and sow dresses, I can cook, I can clean, I can care for the horses, I can read and write in two languages..." ****She looked up at her mother who had a stern look across her face with her arms crossed on her chest. **

**"Please, Mami. Drawing is my dream. It's the thing I like the most after spending time with you and papi of course. Please understand that this is what I love to do."**

**Her mother nodded and walked to the large wooden doors across Santana's spanish bed room. ****"Abuela would be most certainly proud of you, Santana. I truly understand that drawing is what you love. Dancing was my dream and I lived it for many long, wonderful years until I met your father and I became pregnant. I wish I'd have gotten more time to dance but I don't regret giving birth to you or marrying your father. Promise me you won't give up on studying or anything else for that matter?"**

**Santana smiled and made the journey across the room to bring her mother into a warm, Lopez embrace. ****"Si, mami. I promise." **

Santana was carefully memorizing the colors and shapes of the meadows she saw in the distance of the field she was walking in. There were a lot of cattle trotting around her in the field and the stench of the manure was revolting, but Santana's mind was somewhere else. Ever since she started travelling around the world, she'd become more peaceful but also more aware.

When Santana was nineteen, her mother had tragically died by getting hit by an out of control horse in the city one day. Santana mourned the loss of her mother for months, consequently causing her a massive loss of inspiration, therefore, no more drawing. It wasn't until she was twenty one that her papi had come into her room and handed her a map of the world. He took her hand and led her to an old ship that he'd bought only four years ago and let her onto the deck. **"This is for you, mija. I'm letting you live your dreams, just like your mother would have wanted you to."** Was what her papi had told her before she proceeded to spend months on training how to work aboard a ship. She'd have a crew of course, but she had absolutely no knowledge of what she would have to do if the worst happened.

A day before she turned twenty two, she said her last farewells to her father, as she wouldn't be seeing him for another three years, if she did make it back to Spain alive. The thought scared her but her father had told her that without fear of making it, a dream is not really a dream.

There had been more than a couple of dangerous encounters with pirates on the seas and also a few when she stopped at England for a few days. From what she was told by Miss Pillsbury, England was not a nice place to live in. There where many diseases that could not be cured and a lot of thieves, what English people called muggers. Miss Pillsbury had the economy in England was a fast downfall and what was before a very wealthy country, became poverty stricken due to wars and laws.

Santana was apprehensive to visit England. She'd heard stories of the great war between England and Spain on the seas, a war which Spain was beaten in. She was afraid that if and English man or woman found out she was infact Spanish, she would be taken to what people called the stocks and viciously killed infront of everybody. Also, by taking along her black best friend, caused her a lot more worry. She'd read in her library books that white people did not take well to black people. They were ranked as third class citizens and lower. White people even enslaved black people and treated them like animals, all because of the color of their skin. This disgusted Santana, which was why when they anchored at one of the docks in the city of Liverpool, England and herself and Mercedes received a lot of glares of anger and hatred, she stayed for a night before immediately getting back on her boat and setting off for France.

Santana wondered around the field for a few more hours before stopping at the edge of the small African village and watching the villagers go about their day. She saw Mercedes interacting with a few children and smiled. Mercedes was the only thing close to a friend she ever had. Her mother had not let her enjoy things outside of the huge Lopez house for fear of her safety. The only time Santana had ever ventured out of the house was when she had dress or shoe fittings in the city or when her mother had desperately needed something and she went along with her. So when her father had introduced the Santana to the Jones family, she immediately made it her task to befriend Mercedes, which surprisingly went well, despite Santana had never spoken to a female of her own age, ever.

They'd been best friends since day one. Mercedes couldn't speak Spanish, which was a shame even though Santana could speak fluently in English. Mercedes family had moved from England for safety and so Mr Jones could make more money. When Santana announced she would be travelling around the world for her art, Mercedes was the first one who offered to go with her. Mercedes had a powerful voice and staying in a country that she couldn't even speak the language of, would get her no success. She had a dream to go to a place she'd read about in books, The United States of America. Apparently there were more 'famous' and wealthy people there than anybody could ever imagine and songs and music were a big part of the American culture. Santana had promised Mercedes that they would stay in America for at least two months which Mercedes happily agreed too.

Santana took out her sketch pad from the small bag that she'd been carrying all day. She sat her back against the wooden plants of the fence that was splitting the field from the village, then took out a piece of black charcoal. She drew the outline of the trees and meadows she could make out in the distance of the African landscape before adding every little detail to her drawing. She was peacefully in her own world when a loud, southern voice boomed through her ears.

"If you even think of running away, me and my men will kill you. We have guns."

Santana tensed and her eyes widened. What was happening?

"Get them all!" The voice came from the village and Santana immediately scrambled to her feet. She failed to care that she was putting herself in danger, she had to get to the village where Mercedes was.

Oh god, Mercedes!

She'd promised Mr and Mrs Jones so many times that she'd take care of their daughter. She couldn't let anything happen to Mercedes, she'd never live with herself if her best friend was put in danger and she didn't do anything about it.

"Mercedes!" She screamed and ran from the field to the spot where she'd seen her best friend playing with the children just a few hours before. She scanned the area quickly, only finding her best friend no where to be seen, along with the children that had been there.

"Mercedes!" She scanned the village once more before turning and coming face to face with a large, bulky white man. Behind him she saw the image of a chained Mercedes and more white men, chaining up the other Africans from the village.

Oh, good lord. This couldn't be happening. Not to Mercedes. She'd read about this in books. Slavery was the word.

The man in front of her grabbed her forcefully by the arm and dragged her over to a set of chains. She caught Mercedes' eyes and saw tears coming out of them. Her heart began to beat frantically at the sight of her best friend in danger and upset.

"Get off me, filthy man! It's inappropriate and disrespectful to touch a young lady how you're touching me!" The man only laughed and gripped Santana's arm tighter, leaving red finger marks on the soft caramel skin.

"Young lady my fucking arse! More like young monkey!" He spat at her and Santana was rendered speechless. She'd never heard somebody use such revolting language, especially when they were addressing her.

"That is a disgusting way to speak to somebody! Do you have an idea of what respect is?" Santana exploded and forced her way out of his grip, quickly glancing back to Mercedes who was watching the scene with wide eyes. Mercedes shook her head at Santana, silently telling her not to make things any harder for herself because she knew these white men were dangerous.

The man lunged at Santana, gripping her body even tighter than he had before. "The fact is I'm not talking to a person, I'm talking to a fucking dirty animal." He whispered venomly in Santana's ear, causing her to stop her body from moving. He had mistaken her and Mercedes for Africans and they were captured. They were about to become slaves.

"Strip these two then take them to the boats!" Another white man motioned to Santana and Mercedes who were wearing one of the many bustle dresses Mrs Jones had provided them with.

Santana screamed inaudibly as one of the men came closer than needed, so she could feel his breath on her neck. He snaked one his hands down her side before ripping the dress off Santana's back before he recieved an angry shove from her.

He smirked. "Fiesty one, we have here!" he called to his men. "I'm gonna have some fun with you." He said devilly into her ear. She shivered when the man came close to groping her boob only to be forcefully pushed onto the hard ground of the African village.

"Load 'em up into the boats boys. Be careful to keep these two apart!" The white man who had stripped Santana and Mercedes of their clothing. Santana choked back a sob when she realized she would be seperated from her best friend. She couldn't leave Mercedes on her own.

"Mercedes!" She sobbed, she desperately tried to escape the grip of the chain which had been applied to both wrists.

"Word of advice for ya here, monkey. Here is Martha," he pointed to Mercedes. "And your new name is, Sally. Got it?" Santana shook her head and disgust and tried to lunge at the man, only to be held back by the metal chain.

"My name is Santana and her name is Mercedes!" She screamed. "Not anymore. You will use your Christian names from now on." The man sneered and walked to the front of the line of chained Africans that had been formed. Santana huffed and slumped down to her knees, only to be dragged back to her feet by.

"Tienes suerte estoy ocupado en estas cadenas otro sabio yo le di un golpe de fuerza!" Santana shouted, attracting the attention of a few Africans who looked like they had no idea what was going on.

"What does that mean in monkey language, eh? Why can't you be quiet like the rest of these dumb fucks?" The white man hissed, motioning at the other Africans. Of course they didn't understand what was going on, they couldn't speak English and were uneducated unlike Santana and Mercedes.

Santana, along with the other villagers chained together, we pulled and dragged for hours until they reached a large dock and were met with the sight of a bright blue ocean. Santana thought this would be a beautiful place to draw, but shook the thought out of her head when she saw Mercedes being tugged sharply onto the boat next to the one Santana was being led too. "No!" Was a swallowed sob down her throat. She caught her best friends eyes, the girl was looking terrified, she had tear marks down her cheeks and hand marks on her arms from the white men. Santana seethed with anger when she saw what the men had done to her best friend. She mouthed a "Don't worry, Cedes. I'm going to save us. We'll be okay. Stay strong. I'll find you." before she was pushed harshly into a small space on the boat hitting her head hard and causing her to pass out, not leaving her another chance to get a glance at her best friend.

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**March 12th 1921**

Brittany Pierce walked happily through the market area of her small town in the Village of Salado, TX. She'd heard that there would be live auctions today and as she was in dire need of a new horse, she decided she'd check out if there was any good offers.

Brittany owned a farm on the far side of the village, leaving her with no neighbors apart from two Asians who owned an old boat house on the other side of the creek at the bottom of her fields. Brittany was a wealthy twenty-three year old, her money gained from when her rich father had died after being shot by bandits after visiting a nearby village one day. Brittany was distraught when she heard the news that she'd no longer have a single parents or family member, prior to her never meeting her mother and the family she had living more than four hundred miles away, a week journey by horse.

She had inherited the farm and land he owned and the money he had in the safe of the farm house attic. In a will that the Sheriff found, he demanded that Brittany should not be treated any differently to how she was before. He demanded that she get everything he owned and how she should be protected by the sheriff's office for any looters or bandits. The demands were obeyed, due to John Pierce being one of the most respected people in Salado.

Brittany was more than shocked to find she had inherited almost three million dollars in her fathers money, as well as 19 acres of land around the village, along with almost fifty animals on the farm. She knew she would never manage to handle the farm on her own, therefore she hired the local saloon owners step-son, Finn Hudson a job at being a farm hand. He happily took the job and moved into the spare barn, along with Noah Puckerman and had suggested Brittany hire two young ladies, by the name of Rachel Berry and Quinn Fabray to be her two house maidens. As soon as Brittany met the two girls, she formed a tight friendship and immediately hired them.

Word soon got around that Brittany was paying the four young adults very good pay and even let them move into the house with her due to loneliness and soon more and more people would show up at the farm asking for a job. Brittany rejected a lot of people, due to not being able to trust anybody, as her father had taught her as she grew up. Instead, she donated a large sum of money to the poor area of her town because of how compassionate she was.

That had happened almost two years ago and Brittany was still getting used to the fact that her father was dead and she was now beyond rich and also, very famous for her wealthiness in the small town she lived in.

Brittany wondered further into the market area, keeping an eye out for any horses that people were auctioning. She greeted some of the locals she remembered and bought a few packets of seeds for her crops. She passed the dock at the end of the long road that the market was situated and was surprised to see two large boats anchored up. She saw crowd people gathered at an old building, all suspiciously excited and all grabbing piles of money out of their pockets.

Brittany, being the intrigued person she was, walked a few steps closer and almost fell to her knees at what she saw.

She knew what was happening. Her father had told her stories of when every couple of years, americans from the north side of the country would sail to Africa and capture the villagers and bring them back to America as slaves. He had told her how most of the captured ones wouldn't even survive the journey to America and if they did, would soon die anyway because of how cruel the buyers treated them. When Brittany asked why her father never bought a slave, he explained that it would go against his beliefs of treating everybody equally. When she asked why he wasn't stopping the cruel people, he simply replied that he couldn't do nothing and it was a tradition since one hundred years back.

Brittany was rooted to the same spot for over ten minutes, watching in horror as the Africans screamed out in pain when they were branded with the burning hot pole melting viciously into their skin. She forced herself to look away but was immediately turning her head back again when she noticed her.

Small, dark long hair, tan caramel skin, dark mocha eyes and full pouty lips.

She was an angel.

Brittany stood gaping at the lady who was no older than her and almost fainted when she branding stick was brought close to the shaking girls body.

"No!" she screamed as a large man was about the put the stick on the girls body.

Many heads turned to look at Brittany who took a step forward and inspected the beautiful woman in front of her. The woman turned to look at Brittany and Brittany almost melted at the sight of her eyes. They were beautiful and the woman was even more incredibly beautiful up close. She knew she shouldn't be thinking such things about a woman, but her father had taught her to always appreciate beauty and that's what she had always did.

"Ah! Miss Pierce!" A man emerged from behind the large man. A man she had known since she was five years old. Mr Schuester was one of the towns officials and was one of her father's loyal friends.

"May we help you Miss Pierce? Do you have your eyes on this slave?" He questioned and Brittany stilled.

Slave? This beautiful woman was a _slave_?

The woman in front of her whimpered when she saw another African in the space next to her get branded.

"Uhm- I- How much is she? I mean- uhm, what would it cost to buy her?" Brittany stammered out. She knew if she let this woman go to another person, she'd be treated awfully and she just couldn't let that happen. She felt something when she set her eyes on the woman. She had to get her.

"This one is ten dollars!" He smiled and Brittany cringed. Why was he so happy? Why did he enjoy seeing these innocent people hurt.

"I'll take her. I need her. Now!" She said quickly, needing to get the woman away from these people.

"Ah, sure, Miss Pierce. We just need to brand her then she's all yours!" He said, motioning for the man to place to hot steel on the woman's back.

"No!"

The man stopped again and huffed.

"Miss Pierce, a problem?" Mr Schuester asked her.

"Uhm- don't do that. I mean, I have my own ways of branding." She said, causing the woman to look at her with hurt in her eyes. "A much more painful way." She added, sounding convincing.

Mr Schuester nodded and pulled up the dark skinned beauty and pushed her to Brittany. Brittany caught her and engulfed her into her arms, which the woman struggled to get out of. Brittany held her tighter, but more gently as she noticed the fragile state that her body was in. She felt a rush of warmth run through her body as she held the woman, even in the hostile state she was currently in.

"I expect you treat her to the extreme. No compassion. No care. These people are animals to us. Also, be sure to call them by their Christian names. This one here is called Sally." Mr Schuester exclaimed and Brittany struggled not the cry as she heard the deep breath the woman she was holding take.

"Right, indeed." She nodded, and gently guided the small woman out of the building they were stood in.

"Miss Pierce, what is your chosen method of payment? Two cows would cover the cost of this thing."

Brittany felt anger boil up inside of her. She bit her lip from screaming at the abuse addressed to the woman.

"I'll be back in town to pay tomorrow in cash. Bye, sir."

Brittany rushed out of the building, her hand clasped tightly around the 'slave' she had just bought. She guided her up the hill to were Finn was waiting with her horse cart. She loaded the things she had bought into the front before motioning to the dark girl to step into the cart. The woman looked scared and hesitant and Brittany's heart dropped.

"I'm not going to hurt you." She told the woman softly and stroked her arm soothingly. She noted how skinny the probably once healthy woman was and made it a mental note to feed her a lot when they got back to the farm.

The woman stood her ground and took in her surroundings, most likely looking for her escape route. Brittany noticed and frowned. Had she not figured that she was not like the rest of the townsmen?

"Please, miss. I can tell you honestly right now that I would never hurt you in any possible way. I promise you with my life." Brittany pleaded and the woman looked up and gazed into her eyes, looking for any sign that Brittany was lying.

Brittany breathed a sigh of relief when the woman slowly hauled herself into the cart and pushed herself into the far corner of the seat.

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

Santana was watching the woman who had 'bought' her cautiously as she fiddled with the seed packets.

Was this woman lying? What were her intentions? Santana had learnt that the white people had no respect whatsoever. Santana wasn't even African, she was just tanned but her she was, in captivity and in the company of somebody she'd never met. Her mind went back to her best friend and she felt tears prickle her eyes. She hadn't seen Mercedes at the building where all the other _slaves _were being sold. She desperately hoped that what she had read in the books wasn't true and that Mercedes hadn't been thrown overboard for dying on the journey. But of course it was true, it had happened to a lot of people who were travelling on the boat she was on. Being stuck in a cramped space for three weeks, with one meal a day, people bringing up their entire stomach contents more than three times a day and people actually using the make shift bed they were appointed to as a toilet was sure to make people die. She just hoped Mercedes was not one of the over boarders.

"What's your name?" Came a soft voice from the other side of the cart. Santana almost laughed aloud. The white man had specifically told her to call her by her Christian name Sally yet here the woman was, asking her name.

Santana decided to not say anything and continued to stare at her hands.

"I meant what I said, miss. I'm not going to hurt you. I could never even hurt a fly. I only bought you because I know what would of happened to you if I left you there."

Santana was shocked by the confession but chose to keep her head down. This woman had saved her.

"So, miss, are you going to tell me your name? I'm not going to call you by your chosen name that those horrible people gave to you. What is your real name?"

Santana slowly lifted her head and looked at the woman. She hadn't noticed before but this woman was truly beautiful. Her long golden hair and her creamy pale skin, not to mention the striking blue eyes that caught the Spanish girls attention. Blue was her favorite color.

"Santana." She said simply. "My name is Santana."

The blonde woman inhaled and sighed. "That's a beautiful name, Santana. I'm Brittany." She smiled brightly and Santana couldn't help the tight lipped smile that formed on her lips.

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**It was really exciting to write this chapter. It's not my best and I don't have time to check for grammar mistakes. I've already written the second and third so for those of you who actually read and decide to follow, thank you. **

**Judging by the reviews I receive from this chapter will decide whether I can continue with this or not, but I hope you guys like it because I'm really into this fic already :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow amazing feed back from the first chapter. It's clear you all want me to continue and I'm really happy that you like it because I'm so engrossed in this fic. **

**I have a lot planned for this story and the next coming chapters and for those of you asking about Mercedes, have faith. . .**

**WARNING: Part of this chapter has a scene with mentions of rape. The scene is in bold so I advise you to skip past it when you come to it if you don't like reading that stuff.**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**March 13th 1821**

The horse cart came to a stop and Santana jumped in her seat. She couldn't help but feel a little intimidated by the blonde woman, whose name she learned was Brittany. Brittany was staring at her intensely, not the hungry, disgusting stare that the slave ship crew had given her every time they entered below the deck, but a stare that was telling her that Brittany was taking in every detail of her that she could. Somehow, she trusted the blonde that she wasn't going to hurt her, otherwise she would of let the hot steel brand her only an hour before, but something told her at the back of her mind that there was more to this than just not wanting to see her be treaten cruelly by the other town people. Something told Santana that she should let this Brittany woman do what she wanted and everything would be fine.

"Deep in thought?" A soft voice floated through her ears and she took a deep breath before facing Brittany and shaking her head. She couldn't find her voice to answer her vocally, she wasn't even sure that she wanted to speak to her. She was a stranger and she was white. Practically she was an enemy.

"We're at my farm house now. Please, follow me and I'll do everything I can in my power to nurse you back to health," Brittany let her eyes rake over the only skin and bone body of Santana. "I'm sure you weren't always that thin."

Santana only nodded in agreement, but made no movement to step out of the cart. She watched Brittany stepped out and muttered something to the horse driver. Was he Brittany's husband? Surely not. Santana learnt that in America, women must obey there husband's every demand, whether they liked it or not. She read that once a woman was married, she was basically a slave to the husband and was hardly aloud to make any decisions of her own. Surely if that man was Brittany's husband, he wouldn't let her buy a slave.

Slave. Santana cringed. That's what she was, a slave. And Mercedes. She'd promised not to get them into any danger that could risk their lives, yet she'd allowed them to be captured and tortured for three weeks, and now she didn't have any idea where her best friend had been taken, or for the matter, if she was even still alive.

A tear slid down Santana's cheek and she thought of her best friend. All the what ifs ran through her mind like the horses back at home ran through the Lopez fields.

Home. How she would give anything to be back at him with her father and the Jones family right now.

Out of the corner of her eye, a pale hand was moving towards Santana. She flinched and cowered into the corner of the cart, scared that she'd be hit like she was hit on the slave ship. She was more than surprised when the hand softly wiped away the tears that were making their way down her once full cheeks.

"Santana, what is the matter? I hope I am not the reason for those tears." Santana recognised the voice as the woman she'd met only two hours ago. She shook her head again as an answer and heard Brittany sigh before the pale hands once again made contact with her skin.

Long, slender fingers wrapped around her now bony ones and softly pulled her up from the seat of the cart into a standing position.

"You don't have to be afraid to be here. Me and my loyal friends are no threat to you. I promise, Santana." Santana could only nod as she was lead into a huge farm house surrounded by acres of fields and meadows.

_Just like the ones in Africa_, she remembered and her stomach instantly flipped at the thought of the exotic country.

She'd been taken away from there and left her most valued possessions behind. Her sketch pad and her ship. How would she ever explain the loss of the ship to her father? Wait, how did she even know she would get back home to Spain? She wouldn't return without her best friend, that was for sure.

A loud bang jolted Santana from her thoughts and she was met with the sight of two other people. She absentmindedly cowered behind Brittany and gripped onto the hand that had taken her tan ones into pale ones.

"Santana, don't be afraid. These ladies are just my maidens and mean no harm towards you. Look," Brittany pointed to a blonde and brunette who were standing in a room, what she presumed was the cooking area or basin. "The short lady is called Rachel and the taller lady is called Lucy but she made it clear to me that she would prefer to be called Quinn. The reason why, I have no idea."

Santana looked carefully at the two women who were standing close together. They were smiling at her which put Santana at a bit of an ease and she relaxed in Brittany's hold.

"Miss Brittany, do you have an explanation to why you are introducing us to this lady?" The brunette that Santana remembered was called Rachel asked.

"How many times have I scolded you for calling me Miss Brittany, Rachel? Call me Brittany," Brittany stopped before thinking for a moment. "The reason why Santana is here, is because I bought her." She stated and the two maidens looked at her for a further explanation.

"What do you mean you bought her? Is it even legal to buy people?" Quinn asked Brittany with a wide eyed stare.

She recieved a nudge in the ribs from Rachel who smiled at Santana before talking. "Actually buying people is legal. As slaves. Even if it is one of the worst cases I've ever heard of, it exists."

"I know slavery exists. But I'm sure the lady Brittany called Santana is not a slave, look at her." Quinn argued back.

'Look at her' was all it took for Santana to shake and hide behind Brittany again.

"Ladies, please. As I was saying before I was interrupted. In the first place, I went to the market to purchase a new horse before I came across the slave auction. I saw Santana and saved her from getting branded and sold to the, may I say so myself, quite revolting town neighbors we have. I bought her and now she's going to be living with us." Brittany said simply, causing her two maidens to open their mouths in shock.

Santana was still hiding behind Brittany as she watched the other two woman exchange looks of concern.

"So you're telling us that you bought her, but not to use her as a slave?" Quinn asked and Brittany nodded.

"Brittany, dear, I know you're adventurous and such things but I didn't think you would do something like this." Rachel eyed Santana wearily and Santana felt herself becoming increasingly scared. She would usually put up a fight and never got scared, but after what happened on the slave ship, she learned to never talk back to a white person or there would be punishments.

"The question is why did you buy her if you don't intend to use her as a slave? Even if I am against the idea of slavery, that is extremely pointless." Rachel told Brittany who was staring at Santana again, she knew the woman was scared but she was going to prove that there was no need to be afraid.

"Brittany?"

"Yes?" Brittany asked, her eyes not at all leaving the shorter girl behind her. Her beauty captured her and she was finding herself wandering hopelessly into the dark pools of mocha which displayed so many emotions.

"Why did you buy her?"

"My heart and my head told me I couldn't let those people buy her. I had to do it. I simply had to."

Quinn and Rachel nodded but continued to stare at the Spanish girl behind Brittany. Santana found herself becoming uncomfortable with everybody staring at her like she was a rare antique and eventually spoke. She'd made it a rule not to speak to the white people, not even the beautiful blonde who saved her.

"Brittany." She whimpered so quietly she was sure that the blonde didn't hear her, but she did. Brittany was shocked when Santana said the fifth word she'd said to her since they met. She thought Santana was being hostile towards her because she was afraid.

"Quinn, Rachel, please stop. You're scaring Santana and I promised she didn't have to be afraid of me." The two maidens nodded and smiled apologetically at Brittany and Santana before exiting the room.

"Santana?" Brittany turned to the slightly shaky brunette who had her eyes downcast to the floor.

"Are you hungry at all?" Brittany asked her softly and Santana nodded the smallest nod. Brittany smiled and lifted her hand to tilt Santana's chin.

"We'll feed you and then I'll show you to your room. The only spare room at the house is situated next to mine, is that okay? That is unless you want to sleep in the barn with Finn and Noah."

Santana's widened at the mention of other people at the farm. She was already afraid of the two maidens, she didn't want to become more uneasy.

"Don't be afraid." Brittany whispered before leading Santana to a seat and proceeding to prepare a feast.

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

After Santana had eaten the large meal that Brittany had made, she was shown to a room with a four post bed and a large drawer set. She bathed privately in Brittany's bathroom to wash off all the grime that had covered her body in the last three weeks.

When Brittany reassured her that she had no reason to be scared at the farm, she immediately found comfort under the covers of the bed. She was exhausted. Three weeks trying to sleep in a cramped room with another two hundred people was not a nice situation. Especially when the white men would more than often come down and take girls to the deck and do unbearable things to them.

Santana thought of Mercedes as soon as she laid her head on the soft pillow that the bed provided. Was it possible that Mercedes had been taken to the same town that Santana was taken to? Would Santana even be aloud out to search for her best friend? She had so many unanswered questions but she wasn't going to ask them. She wasn't going to speak to Brittany or the white people, no matter how kind Brittany had been... or how beautiful Brittany was.

Santana shook her head for thinking such things in the situation she was in. She was meant to be figuring out how to save her best friend and get back to Spain, not thinking about how beautiful another woman was.

Woman thinking about the same sex like that was wrong. At least that's what she had learned in the books in the library at home. She didn't see a problem with women loving women. Her mother had taught her that if you love somebody, you love them. You can't decide who you fall in love with.

But even if she did think Brittany was beautiful, that doesn't mean she would fall in love with her. Santana knew she wouldn't. Just because Brittany had saved her, it didn't mean Santana would run into her open arms and declare love and care. Brittany was a stranger and that's how it was going to stay.

**"Well, well. What do we have here?" A member of the slave crew paced the slave quarters of the ship, eyeing every female in sight. Santana knew what he was planning to do. He would find a woman of satisfaction and then take her to the deck where she would be raped by three or more men then most likely killed for the chances of being pregnant by the white men. **

**Santana pushed herself further into the rotting wood she called her bed. The man was still pacing up and down, holding a rum bottle in his hand. He stopped before harshly dragging out a shaking African woman by the hair from her bed. He clumsily threw her down to the floor before giving her a once over and shaking his head in utter disgust and walking away. **

**He came to a stop a bed before Santana. Santana knew it was unoccupied as the young girl who had been there only yesterday, was taken up to the deck and never returned. **

**She tried to stay as still and quiet as possible, hoping the man would not see her in the darkness of the quarters and move on. She took the risk of moving her head slightly to seek out the man and his where abouts. What she wasn't ready for was the smell of rum and tobacco and coming face to face with the white man. **

**"Oh! Look what we have here! The angry monkey who caused a lot of disturbance back in monkey land. You've been real bad, I think it's time for the punishments!" The man proceeded to rag a terrified Santana from the bed and up to the deck where she shielded her eyes from the sharp light she hadn't seen in over a week. **

**"This one?" Another white man joined his fellow crew member's side and smirked as he nodded. **

**Santana jumped when she was pushed forward to the middle of the deck and surrounded by three men. She closed her eyes, praying in Spanish that this was all a nightmare and she would wake up in the safety of her own bed on her own ship with Mercedes in the next room.**

**She the rags she had been given, being ripped from her body. She choked back a sob as she opened her eyes and was met with the three men unbuckling the belt on their pants. She was forced down onto the soaking deck of the boat, a white man following on top of her.**

**She cried out in pain as the man entered her, taking her virginity and taking away her innocence. **

"STOP!" Santana shot up from the bed as she cried out into the room.

Bed. Room.

She was at Brittany's house. She was safe. It was just another horrendous nightmare that she had every time she closed her eyes. A nightmare that would haunt her until the day she died. She knew she would never get of the images of the body moving on top of her and the sounds of laughs and sneers from the other men.

She whimpered when she heard a floor board outside the room creek and the door slowly open, revealing the figure of Brittany wearing a night gown, holding a lantern in her hand.

"Is everything okay?" Brittany asked, taking a step further into the room. Santana only shook her head and pulled the comforter over her body, hiding from Brittany.

She let out a small cry of fear when the bed dipped next to her and the comforter was pulled gently away from her body.

"Did you have a nightmare?" Brittany whispered, frowning as she saw the beads of sweat trailing down Santana's forehead.

Santana lay idol and decided to ignore Brittany. She wouldn't open up to her and pretend like she could make it all better. Because she couldn't. Brittany would never be able to stop the images that haunted Santana's mind.

Santana sure as hell wouldn't be sticking around long enough to even try out that theory.

The comforter was thrown to the foot of the bed, allowing a tall blonde to snake her body beside Santana. Santana tensed at the feeling of somebody being so close to her. She immediately thought back to the slave ship when Brittany's breath hit her neck.

A lone tear escaped Santana's eye as she desperately tried to get rid of the images of the white man on top of her. She let out a small sniff when she remembered how awful the men treated her.

"Santana, are you crying?" Brittany asked from where she was lying so close next to Santana. Santana shook her head and turned around to face away from Brittany.

"I know that you're scared, I understand. I've seen how bad the people treat you and the other Africans," Santana almost smiled when Brittany referred the people to Africans and not slaves. "But you don't have to be scared here. We're over a half hour away from the rest of the village by horse and my friends won't hurt you. I promise to you, you're safe here. Please, just let me care for you." Brittany pleaded and Santana felt a pang of guilt rush through her body.

As much as she didn't want to trust this woman she did. Brittany had saved her from her certain future torture and promised to take care of her. She fed and clothed Santana. She was even comforting her now and yet Santana had not let the word 'thank you' slip out of her mouth.

"Do you want to sleep now?" Brittany asked and Santana nodded. What Santana wasn't expecting was for a pale arm to wrap around her waist and pull her closer so that she was pressed flush against a body. Brittany's body.

She gasped when a rush of warmth flooded her body and made her feel tingles down her spine. Surely this was just a reaction to the fact a white person was touching her?

No. When the white men touched her, she felt scared and nauseous. The men were disgusting and treated her like filth.

What she was feeling now that Brittany was touching her was nothing compared to those feelings. She felt cared for and as though all the life she had before she was captured, was suddenly pouring back into her.

Slowly, she trailed a path down her body, searching for Brittany's hand which was resting lightly on her stomach. She found the pale hand and gave it a soft squeeze.

"Yes?" Brittany's reply was instant and Santana lightly smiled.

"Thank you." Santana mumbled so quietly that she was sure that Brittany would have difficulty hearing it.

"You're more than welcome. I'd do anything for you. Good night, Santana."

Santana lay still in the bed for well over an hour. Brittany was a sleep with her arms still around Santana's mid section but Santana was still scared. She was on high alert, afraid that somebody would slam through the door and rape her like they'd done on the slave ship.

Brittany stirred in her sleep, pulling Santana closer and tighter to her body. Santana let out a sigh before turning in her position to face Brittany. Her bangs were sprawled across her face and her nose was scrunched. Her soft snoring sounded like a melody to Santana and before she knew what she was doing, she lightly brushed a piece of hair out of Brittany's face.

Santana knew Brittany was beautiful but here asleep, she looked even more serene. So peaceful and calm. Santana let the sound of Brittany breathing win her over and before long she was asleep in Brittany's arms.

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**March 14th 1821**

Brittany woke up to a weight on her arms. She wondered if she had mistaken her bedroom for the dog bed again and if her dog, Milo, was sleeping on her.

Then she remembered that she'd heard Santana scream out from a nightmare and she went to comfort her. She slowly opened one eye, blinded by the sunlight shining through the netted curtains of the room.

Once regaining her full sight back, she smiled at a beautiful sleeping Santana. Brittany thought that she was so interesting to look at. Since yesterday, every time she looked at her, she saw new things.

The prospect of starting a friendship with Santana excited Brittany to say the least. Brittany knew that when she saw Santana at the auction, she would regret it to her dying day if she would of left her. She knew she felt something deep inside her when she saw Santana. She just knew.

The aroma of bacon drifted up Brittany's nose and she presumed it was Quinn cooking breakfast since Rachel refused to go anywhere near meat.

She remembered how thin and weak Santana looked yesterday, and how quick she devoured the food that she made her before bed. She knew the ship crew didn't exactly feed the Africans when they were captured and that disgusted her. Everybody had a right to eat food. Especially Santana.

Brittany decided that it would be best to wake Santana up now, so she didn't feel nervous about what she was supposed to do when she did wake up.

"Santana." She whispered softly, close to her ear.

Santana made no movement and Brittany felt a pang of pain in her heart. Obviously she didn't sleep well on the ship. Her father had told her stories of how cramped the spaces where on the journey from Africa to America. Santana mustn't of been able to sleep a wink, not to mention being terrified of being killed at any minute by the capturers. She must of been exhausted.

Brittany decided to wait a little longer for Santana to wake up. She sat on the edge of the bed and simply watched her. She couldn't understand how somebody could treat Santana, or anybody for that matter so cruelly. She didn't understand how there was nobody trying to stop this 'tradition'.

Santana stirred and Brittany instantly stood up from the bed and moved to her side. She saw how Santana opened her eyes and closed them again as soon as the light hit her. Brittany let out a breathy laugh when Santana's face suddenly had a panicked look on it.

"Did you sleep well?" She asked the woman who was still half asleep. Santana jumped when she heard a voice next to her, only to realize seconds later that it was Brittany. She nodded and nervously stood from the bed, unsure of what to do next.

"Do you want some breakfast?" Brittany questioned wearily. The Spanish girl nodded and awkwardly followed Brittany down the stairs of the farm house and into a large room with a concrete wall on one side. They were met by Quinn, who seemed genuinely happy that Santana had decided to come to join them for breakfast.

"Where has Rachel disappeared to?" Brittany asked Quinn, who was busy slicing a fresh piece of bread for Santana.

She shrugged, "I think she went to the creek to try and catch some fish. We're running low on meat and fish supply."

"Ah, I was supposed to buy some yesterday. Is Finn around?"

"Noah and him are rounding up the sheep. I'm sure they're on the second field." Brittany nodded and turned back to Santana. The Spanish girl was slowly eating the food on the plate in front of her. Brittany knew it was because she wasn't sure of how to act around her and Quinn.

"I won't take a second. Quinn, don't scare Santana while I'm gone. I need to ask Finn to run an errand for me." Quinn nodded as Brittany exited the house to ask Finn to take the money she 'bought' Santana with to town.

Santana was left alone with Quinn, who eyed her before sitting down on the wooden chair opposite her. Santana didn't dare bring her eyes up to meet Quinn's glare, she felt somewhat intimidated by the woman.

"You don't have fear me, you know." Quinn stated softly, causing Santana to look at her with questioning eyes.

"I can sense that you're nervous around us. You don't have to be. Here at Brittany's farm we're a family and we would never do anything to hurt Brittany. Hurting you would be hurting her... she cares a lot for you." Quinn reassured her. Santana was almost put at ease by the words but still felt somewhat distressed.

"You're not African, am I correct?"

Santana nodded and Quinn's head perked up.

"Why are you here then? Are you a criminal?"

Santana shook her head frantically. She didn't want to be accused of something that she was not, even though she'd been mistaken for an African before.

"Look. I'm not the kind of lady that will pick one's brains. I know you're anxious to speak to us, I would be also. You're just really.. interesting. When you're ready to talk more, come find me, okay?" Quinn's smile expressed tenderness and friendliness. Santana nodded, not feeling so afraid anymore. She didn't want to have to talk to these people, but something told her she to if she wanted to find her best friend and get back home.

Quinn stood up abruptly as Brittany entered through the door.

"Were you interrogating her?" Brittany raised an eyebrow at Quinn.

"No. Absolutely not. I just wanted to reassure her that you mean no harm.. We, I mean. We." Brittany didn't respond and instead sat down in the space Quinn had previously occupied.

"Not hungry?"

"Not really." Santana muttered. She'd been building up courage to speak to Brittany since last night. How the blonde girl made her feel was weird and foreign, but really refreshing.

"You're talking to me now?" Brittany grinned, relieved that she hadn't scared Santana even more after last night. She took a huge risk getting into the bed with Santana, but she needed comforting and Brittany had promised to take care of her.

"It would be rude to ignore you after everything you've already done for me." Santana concluded. Brittany smiled and shook her head at Santana's new behavior. "I told you, it was no problem. Is there anything you'd like to do today?"

Santana pondered for a minute. Would it be acceptable to ask somebody who had already saved you and took you in to help you look for your best friend? What if Brittany was actually an imposter and intended to befriend her only to hurt her much worse than she could have?

No. Brittany couldn't possibly be like that.

"I could introduce you to Noah, he's my field helper as well as Finn. You know the man who drove the horse cart?" Santana nodded and allowed herself to be led to the old barn house that Noah and Finn resided in.

Santana went back to her nervous self when they stopped outside the barn. She knew how white men could treat woman like her, she was afraid to meet Noah.

Brittany knocked on the wooden doors of the barn, letting her free hand snake around Santana's wrist in a calming way.

The door opened and out stepped a tall, lean man with a weird hair cut stepped out. "Good day, Brittany. Who is this we have here?"

"Noah, this is Santana. Did Quinn or Rachel tell you about her?"

"Ah, the lady you bought yesterday?" Santana cringed at the word 'bought'. She wasn't an object to be sold, she was a human. Still, she'd been treated like an alien.

Brittany rolled her eyes. "I didn't _buy_ Santana, Noah. I saved her and she's staying with us. I ask you only to be polite and don't make her fear you, please."

Noah nodded and looked over Santana's figure more than one. "If I must say so myself, you are real pretty young lady." Santana watched as a hungry stare formed in Noah's eyes and his pupils raked over her body once more.

She couldn't take the way he looked at her, like the slave ship crew did when they mercilessly threw her to the floor and raped her.

She turned and ran back up the field, ignoring the calls from Brittany and behind the big house. There she found a lot of horse tables, but only a few occupied by the animals. She walked up to one of the pens that was labeled_ Shazam_ and smiled fondly at the animal. Santana had always loved horses. The ones back home were her second best friends next to Mercedes.

The horse which she figured was called Shazam, nuzzled its enormous face into her neck and she stared giggling. She stroked the horse's main and smiled as it enthusiastically neighed. She laughed once more as the horse licked up the side of her face.

"You have a beautiful laugh." Santana jumped and turned around to face Brittany who was standing with a sparkle in her eye. Santana glared at her curiously as she approached her and the horse.

"What happened back there? Did Noah make you feel uncomfortable?"

Santana nodded and continued to pet the horse.

"Do you want to talk about it?" When Santana shook her head, Brittany huffed softly before proceeding to stand next to Santana.

"You can tell me anything, you know. Daddy told me sometimes when something is bothering you, letting the world know will make it all better, but you don't have to tell me... not yet."

"What happened to your father?" Santana asked her shyly. Brittany smiled. Maybe if she told Santana some stories, she would trust her enough to tell her what was bothering her.

"Bandits," Santana cocked her head to the side. She had no idea what a bandit was, considering she was from Spain and all.

"Oh! Thieves. They killed him when he was on his way home from the next town over. Sad really. They took his clothes and horse carriage and left him to die in the middle of the road. I thought he was missing until I was informed by the sheriff that he'd been found and he was dead."

Santana's heart began to pound frantically. How could somebody do that? She thought slavery was bad but doing that was just a worse. Brittany was a nice person, so her father must of been too. Tragic.

"So that's how you got the house?" Santana asked her.

"Indeed. Daddy was very rich. I inherited almost three million dollars and a lot of land. I had to hire Finn, Noah, Rachel and Quinn to help me around the farm because I knew I wouldn't be able to handle it alone." Brittany told her in a sad tone.

"So you have no family left?" Brittany shook her head. "I never met my mother and the family I do have live over a week away by horse. Sometimes it gets lonely, you know? Not having any real family.. I'm very thankful that I have Finn, Noah, Quinn and Rachel though.. and now I have you." Brittany said quietly.

Santana felt her heart ache for the woman. She knew what it was like when a family passed but having no family at all must have been excruciating.

'Now I have you' rang through Santana's mind. Could it be a possibility that Brittany considered her as a friend? Or even a family member? She'd only been at the farm for one day.

"Are you going to tell me about your family?" The blonde asked her with a soft smile.

"Uh-" Was all Santana managed to say.

"It's okay. I know you find it hard to talk to me.. when you're ready maybe you can consider?"

Santana nodded and went back to stroke the beautiful horse she had already fallen in love with. He was large, oak brown cultured with a thick black mane. Simply stunning.

"Shazam is my daddy's horse. I have my own horse but Shazam is my favorite."

Santana pulled her hand back from stroking the horse as if she had put her hand on an open flame. Brittany saw the panic and shame in her eyes and immediately took her hand and placed it back on Shazam's fur.

"You can touch him, you know. Just because my father is dead, it doesn't mean I'll keep everything he owned sheltered, otherwise I'd have nothing."

Santana seemed hesitant to keep petting the horse, even after the reassurance of Brittany that it was fine.

"Shazam likes you, I can see from afar. Would you like it if I taught you how to ride him?"

Santana bit her lip from blurting that she was already an expert at riding horses since she had them back at home but then that would be telling Brittany personal stories and she didn't want to do that. It would be pointless to tell her anyway. As soon as she was well enough, she'd be out looking for Mercedes and on her way back to Spain, even if she knew it would kill her to leave the beautiful blonde and never see her again.

"I'd like that." Santana smiled.

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

Santana had spent the rest of the day on her own exploring the farm. She'd came across the creek at the end of the field and spent hours there, with her feet hanging carelessly in the flowing water. It was a hot day so Santana allowed herself to lay in the soft grass of Brittany's field which all too well reminded her of Africa.

She huffed when the taunting images floated through her mind for the nth time since she was captured. She'd never forget how Mercedes face fell as she was pulled on to different ship.

Walking back towards the farm house, she'd seen Quinn and Rachel sitting on the porch in old rocking chairs, chatting endlessly. She was worried to walk past them and decided it would be easier if she took the back door. That was until Quinn spotted her.

"Hi, Santana. How was your day?" The brunette simply nodded as a reply and was about to enter the house when Rachel stopped her.

"I don't believe that I've introduced myself properly. Hello. I'm Rachel Berry and it's a pleasure to meet you." Rachel stuck out her hand and Santana politely but awkwardly shook it.

"Don't feel intimidated by Rachel. She can be quite bothersome at times." Brittany appeared by the door and Santana breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's not the slightest bit true, Brittany. I was not causing her to feel intimidated. I was introducing myself formally, like you should of allowed me to do yesterday." Quinn chuckled at her maiden friend and Brittany only rolled her eyes.

"Well, now that you have introduced yourself, it's okay that I take Santana from your company and into mine." Brittany smiled sweetly at her two maidens before taking Santana's hand and leading her into the house.

"I made you some food. Do you enjoy chicken?" Brittany asked as she led them through the house.

Santana nodded absentmindedly, trying to get over the high she was feeling because Brittany had hold of her hand. Did she feel like that when her father or Mercedes touched her? No..

The sound of a chair scraping against the floor shook Santana from her thought and she sat down opposite Brittany who began serving chicken, vegetables and mashed potatoes.

Santana was handed her plate and she dug right in, making up for the three weeks that she barely survived.

Santana caught Brittany watching her and slightly blushed, earning a giggle from Brittany.

"I never got to thank you properly." Santana confessed. "There's a more than certain chance I would be dead right now or either fainting from exhaustion in a field full of the others. You saved me and took me in and I'm more than thankful for that. You're a really kind person, Brittany. Thank you." She said

Brittany felt tears prickle her eyelids. She'd done many nice things for people in her life, but never did a thank you ever affect her that much. The fact was that Santana could be dead right now if she never would of wondered into the crowd of people and she would of never seen the sheer beauty of Santana.

"You're more than welcome, Santana." Brittany responded with a beam.

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**I had a lot of demands to upload the next chapter so here it is. **

**Some may think the Brittana interactions are maybe too soon, but I can never seem to keep them apart, sorry.**

**Next chapter will probs be up tomorrow or the next, just adding a bit more to it :)**

**Also thanks for all the favorites and follows. xo**


	3. Chapter 3

**Will be a mention of the rape and an execution method in this chapter, do not read if you're sensitive.**

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**March 16th 1821**

It had been three days since Santana had _moved in_ to the Pierce farm house. Three days of desperately thinking of a plan to find her best friend and return to spend. Three days of Brittany trying to get Santana to talk more, but Santana painfully staying silent. She knew when they spoke at the stables, it had been a mistake, she'd asked Brittany too many personal questions and Brittany was probably expecting answers from Santana. All she wanted to do was find Mercedes and leave, she couldn't let nobody in, even if it was a beautiful woman with a gold heart.

Speaking of a beautiful woman with a gold heart.. "Santana, would you like to accompany me to town tomorrow?" Brittany asked as she entered the kitchen area.

"Are you sure that would be a good idea? Wouldn't the locals be curious as to why you're out with a slave?" Santana had grown more confident when she spoke to Brittany and now answered her with full sentences, even if it only had been three days.

Brittany frowned. "You're not a slave." She stated.

"To them I am." Santana argued back.

"Then they are half witted idiots. It pains me how they ever thought you were a slave in the first place." Brittany admitted to her. Santana stood from her chair and paced over to the door connecting to where the stables were.

"Can we change the subject please?" Santana snapped, but immediately felt bad when she saw Brittany's face fall.

"I'm sorry, it just makes me feel really antsy when we discuss _them_." Brittany nodded. She knew she shouldn't bring them up around Santana but something told her if she wanted to help Santana with the silent problems she would refuse to tell her about, she had to slightly push her buttons.

"I understand. We should turn ourselves into bed, it will be a long day tomorrow if you decide to come along."

The two woman wished a good sleep to each other before parting ways at the top of the stairs.

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

"STOP! NO!" Santana shot up from the bed, drenched in sweat. She'd had the nightmare again, always of the men raping her on the deck and showing no remorse.

She clenched the bed cover in her hands, still panting from the images that haunted her. Was she really going to have to deal with this for the rest of her life? Would the same thing occur every night.

"Hey, are you okay?" Brittany appeared in the door way in a flowing white night gown and Santana couldn't help but think that she resembled an actual angel.

"Uh, yeah. Just a nightmare." She mumbled, wiping the sweat from her brow with a hand.

"Again?" Brittany frowned and stepped further into the room, stopping at the foot of the bed. Santana eyed her curiously before she motioned for Santana to scoot over.

"What are you doing?" Santana whispered. Was she going to sleep with her again? She didn't mind it all last time. But what would other people think of two women in such a position? She knew Rachel wouldn't flinch if she found out, she'd found out that she came from an all male family, two dads, no mother. She knew Quinn would have no problem since she was Rachel's very best friend. Would Noah accept it? Would her send snide remarks to her and Brittany's way?

"I'm holding you again.. Is that okay?" Brittany seemed somewhat nervous as she stood swaying slightly at the foot of the bed. Santana nodded and Brittany beamed, scrambling around to the opposite side of the bed.

Santana felt her body tense as Brittany's long limbs wrapped around her, pulling her close to her body.

"What was your nightmare about?" Brittany mumbled into the Spanish girls shoulder. Santana let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding and turned to face Brittany. The moonlight came through the window, radiating Brittany's face so magically, Santana felt as though there was no one as perfect as Brittany to exist. She let out a small gasp when she saw how close Brittany's face was to hers, but never moved.

"You don't have to tell me. I just wish I knew so I could tell you a nice story to help the nightmares go away. Daddy always used to tell me stories of unicorns when I had nightmares, though I'm not really sure such things exist. OH! I'm rambling, I'm sorry."

Santana let out a small laugh. Brittany was being extremely cute. Wait, cute? Is it even allowed for woman to think such things about woman?

"I want to tell you." Santana said, shocking herself. Was she ready to retell such a horrific thing that happened to her? What would Brittany even do?

"Uh, on the ship.." Santana was cut off when a soft hand lovingly stroked up the inside of her arm. Brittany had propped herself up on one elbow and took to stroking Santana's arm in a way to comfort her and let her know that she could tell her anything.

"It's okay, you can continue." Brittany whispered and Santana took a deep breath. It wouldn't be hard, would it?

"They-" She exhaled loudly. "The men on the ship.. they- they raped me."

Santana was expecting a shriek or a push from the bed. What she didn't expect was a teary eyed Brittany standing from the bed, looking like a crazy woman and grabbing a lantern from the floor.

"W-what are you doing?" Santana stuttered to an emotional Brittany. Shouldn't she be the one crying?

"I'm taking you to the sheriff's office and you're going to report those horrid, horrid people. They have no right to treat somebody like you like that!"

_Somebody like you_? What was that supposed to mean?

"You know that I can't do that, Brittany."

Brittany stopped in her hectic tracks and turned to Santana with an open mouth. "What do you mean? Those people violated your rights! It's wrong, they should be hung!"

"If you were to take me down to the sheriff's office, you would cause suspicion among the locals. If you cared enough to take a slave to report a rape, the town officials would be sure to start an investigation as to why you're not treating me like you're supposed to."

Brittany stood staring at Santana. Did she really just say that? "But you're not a slave," She sat down on the edge of the bed, a tear escaping her eye, "I am treating you the way I'm supposed to.. You don't deserve to be treated any different than special. You shouldn't have had to go through _that_!"

Santana sighed as she watched more tears escape Brittany's eyes. Did she really care enough to cry? Over _her_?

"Hey, don't cry. It's okay." She cooed.

Brittany slid down the bed so she was on top of Santana somehow, crying into her shoulder. To say Santana was confused was an understatement.

"It's so wrong, Santana. They shouldn't be allowed to treat you like that!"

"But I'm safe now, look, you saved me from them. They won't be able to do it again." Brittany looked into dark mocha eyes and nodded. Suddenly, she felt more close to Santana than she ever did.

"I saved you." She repeated and Santana smiled. "You did. And I'll forever be thankful for that."

Forever? Brittany wondered what it would be like if Santana was around forever. Would she even want to stay? She probably had a husband waiting back home for her, where ever her home was.

"Where are you from?" Brittany asked her, pouting her bottom lip out. She realized she knew nothing about Santana.

"Spain."

"Then why? How?" Brittany didn't understand how she'd been captured if she was from Spain. Weren't all the other slaves African? Spain would never allow Americans to take their natives as slaves, would they?

"That's another story for another day." Santana sighed. She didn't want to tell Brittany. At first she didn't even want to talk to her. Oh, who was she kidding? Of course she wanted to talk to her, she was beautiful. Something about Brittany captivated her.

"Do you promise you will tell me more?"

"One day." Santana huffed. Of course she was going to tell Brittany, of course she would.

They lay in silence for a few minutes, each one deciding how melodic the others breathing was to them. How comfortable they felt with each other, even though they barely knew each other. What did that even mean?

"How about I tell you a story to help your nightmares?"

"That could help."

Brittany twisted in Santana's arms and pushed her body up so her head could reach the pillows. She opened her arms wide for Santana to slide into, which she did with a bit of hesitation.

"One day, you're going to find the man of your dreams. You're going to fall in love with him, you will marry him and have children. You will make a living with your talent and live a long happy life, not to mention forgetting all about what those _pigs _did to you."

As much as Brittany loved to tell stories, she found that one hard. She knew she didn't want Santana to leave and she was certain she didn't want Santana to find the man of her dreams, marry him and have children, even though Santana would make an exceptional mother.

"I'm not so sure about that." Santana laughed.

"Why not? Isn't that every young woman's dream? Well.. except for me, I'd rather stay here on the farm with my friends." Brittany confessed, causing Santana to turn in her arms.

"I guess I'm destined to be lonely. Usually young women in Spain get married at a young age and then here I am, never had a partner and never has a male, apart from my father even so much as looked at me. Twenty two years old, dear lord."

Brittany shot up. "They do? I mean, you haven't? They didn't? You're twenty two?"

Santana nodded. "Twenty two years old, indeed."

"Wow. I mean, I just cannot wrap my head around that. How aren't you married? _Why _aren't you married? You're such a beautiful woman!"

Brittany's face went almost as red as Santana's did. She'd never been so nervous around someone, never wanted to know so much about someone.

Santana on the other hand felt her heart beating madly. Nobody had ever called her beautiful. Sure, her mother and father had always called her a pretty girl or a handsome lady, but nobody had ever called her beautiful.

"Thank you. It's really kind of you to say such a thing."

"You're welcome, as always.. I just don't understand how it's possible."

"Me not being tied down?"

Brittany nodded.

"I guess I'm just not desirable. Honestly, it doesn't seem to bother me."

_You so are desirable. _Brittany shook her head.

"You deserve a man who will treat you like a queen would be treated. Not that I know much about queens.. They have one in Spain, right?"

Santana giggled. Brittany was so quirky. "No, not a queen. We have a king though, King Ferdinand the seventh."

"Oh, silly me."

"You're not silly."

Brittany smiled. Whenever she scolded herself in front of somebody, they usually agreed with her.

"Do you want to sleep now?"

Santana yawned at the mention of sleep and turned back to her original position in Brittany's arms. Truth be told, she could stay like this forever. Brittany felt like her rock, a soft rock though, helping to hold her together.

"Sleep could do me well. I hope I don't have the nightmare again."

"You won't. I promise. My story will help you." Brittany wrapped both her arms round the smaller girl and pulled her flush against her body cautiously. She didn't want to scare her off when she was getting so used to her being around. Her mind was put at ease when Santana snuggled into her body.

"Goodnight, Santana." She whispered into the moonlit room.

"Uhm, Brittany?"

"Uh huh?"

"How old are you?" Santana asked sheepishly.

"Twenty three years young."

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**March 20th 1821**

Santana had been at Brittany's farm house for a week now. She was slowly getting used to her surroundings and the people who lived with her. She had no more encounters with Noah, thank god, but he did send her an apologetic glance when they passed ways one morning.

"Hi, Santana. Good day so far?" Rachel's voice came from behind her. So far, they'd had barely five conversations, which usually consisted of 'Would you like more vegetables?' or 'How do you like being here?'

"The day is fine. I'm slightly bored, if I must say."

"Well then why don't you ask Brittany to teach you to ride Shazam? I'm sure she wouldn't mind... or you could come fishing with me at the creek?"

Santana thought for a minute. If she rode Shazam, she wouldn't be able to act like a beginner and would soon be racing the fields like she did at home, but if she went with Rachel, it would sure be awkward and she didn't know if she was in the mood for that today.

"I suppose I could ask Brittany to teach me." Rachel's face lit up as Santana started but soon fell when she said the name Brittany.

"Oh, right. Okay. Maybe next time?" Santana nodded and walked away, hoping to find Brittany without any interruptions.

"Santana! There you are. Is there anything you'd like to do today?"

Santana smiled at the sound of Brittany's voice. "Hi."

"Hey. So, anything came to mind?"

"I was actually wondering if you'd teach me how to ride Shazam?" She asked her shyly, but the shyness was soon forgotten about when Brittany grinned and took her hand to lead her to the stables.

"I've been wondering when you'd ask me. Looks like you were itching to ride him."

"Uh, yeah. I guess."

She watched as Brittany collected the straddle and connected the stirrups to it. She was lost in a world of her own she watched the blonde practically glide around the stable.

Brittany turned to her and handed her a helmet. "Ready?"

"I lied." The words came out of her mouth before she even had a chance to register them.

"What?"

"I lied." Santana swore she could see something that resembled hurt in Brittany's eyes.

"A-about what?"

"I know how to ride horses. I had dozens back at home. I'm sorry. I really am. I shouldn't have lied to you."

"Uhm.."

"I- I guess I was scared. Scared that if I spoke to you and told you about my life that I'd grow attached and then be taken away."

Brittany's face softened at the confession and she slowly held out her hand for Santana to take.

"Well, if you're ready, we can take the horses for a ride, just me and you... and we can talk about your life?"

Santana nodded and grinned, please that she wouldn't be angry at. She honestly didn't know what she would do if Brittany got angry at her. She was always so nice.

"Come on then, you can take Shazam and I'll take Willow. Shazam seems to like you."

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

They silently trotted about the large fields of Brittany's land, Santana admiring the view of Texas and Brittany admiring the view of the beauty what was Santana.

"So, you're from Spain and you're twenty two. Care to tell me more?"

"What do you want to know?"

"Uhm.. what is your family like?"

Santana froze. Was she really going to tell Brittany that her father was one of the wealthiest people in Spain, that her mother was dead, that her only ever friend has been captured? Of course she was, this was Brittany she was talking to.

"Well, I grew up in the countryside at the mansion. My father is a very rich man. I had everything I wanted. My mother is, well was, amazing."

"Was?"

"She died."

Brittany gasped as she saw a lone tear trickle down Santana's cheeks. "I'm so sorry."

"No, it's okay. I just haven't spoken about her for a long time."

Brittany jumped from her horse and tied it to a post of the fence. She motioned for Santana to do the same then sat down in the wavy grass facing the Texan horizon.

"Your family seems like a hurtful subject.. How about telling me how you ended up here in the situation you happened to be in?"

Santana sighed in relief. Brittany was so understanding.

"Well, one day my father, he's a sailor, he gave me a boat and told me to live my dreams. I'm an artist,"

"You are?" Brittany asked enthusiastically. Santana smiled and nodded before continuing. "I trained for a couple of months before setting off. My first stop was England, it was horrific. I then sailed to France and Italy before stopping at Africa."

She stopped for a second, wanting to make sure Brittany was still listening. She was, intensely.

"My plan was to stay for a couple of weeks before moving on to America. Coincidence I ended up here, right?" She let out a breathy laugh then turned to Brittany who had a confused expression on her face.

"You want to know how I ended up here as a slave? Well, one day, we-"

"We?"

Santana nodded. "Me and my best friend, Mercedes. I was roaming the fields when I heard shouting, turns out the white men had targeted the small village we were staying in and captured them all. I tried looking for Mercedes, only to be caught myself and seeing her tied in chains. I argued with the men and was consequently separated from Mercedes."

Santana let a tear fall and Brittany had her in her arms in a flash.

"Gosh! I was so stupid! I didn't protect my very best friend when I made a million promises that I would! Now I don't even know if she's alive!" She sobbed into Brittany's chest. Brittany's heart broke at the sight of the brunette crying.

"Hey, hey. C'mom. S'okay. You'll find her." She cooed reassuringly into Santana's ear.

"I won't!" Santana continued sobbing. "It's almost certain that she's dead and even if she was alive I would never find her!"

Brittany let her cry out her remaining tears then used her hand to tilt Santana's chin to look at her.

"This is what you've been so down about, isn't it?"

Santana nodded and Brittany sighed.

"I'll never see her again. I'll never be able to find her." Santana whimpered, holding onto the arm that Brittany was holding her with.

"Yes you will find her. We will find her."

"We?"

"Yes, we. I'm going to do everything I can to help you find her."

**x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x**

**It's sorta rushed so I'm sorry if it doesn't satisfy. **

**How do you think I should bring Mercedes back? She's not dead for sure! I was thinking something to do with Sam.. Samcedes shipper here! (not season 5 samcedes, the writers totally ruined it. In season 3 they were so cute! **

**I was also thinking to put Brittana's first kiss in soon. What chapter? ;)**

**Thanks for the follows, favorites and reviews. xo**


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